Heartbeat
by Zoe tabbycat
Summary: Just a short one-shot on Jo's feelings that night after she had heard her sister's heart beat again. Not my best, but I hope you like it.


Heartbeat

_A/N: Please don't kill me. I know I haven't updated my other stories in like forever, but I had just finished my exams, and regained my freedom. So of course, there are quite a few CSI: NY episodes I had to catch up with. I just finished watching the episode nine thirteen, and I really wanted to write a one-shot on Jo's feelings after she had gone back to her apartment at the end of the episode. So I hope you all enjoy this._

Going back into her apartment, Jo leaned on the door with a sigh. Exhaling deeply, she removed her shoes with a small tug and flopped down on the sofa. She had never thought that she would hear anything about her sister in New York City, and before today, she would have told everyone that she did not want to hear anything at all.

Leanne had been her favorite person in the world when she was younger. Six years younger than herself, Leanne treated Jo as if she was capable of anything, and her greatest desire was to follow Jo everywhere, and Jo loved her to bits. She would do anything to keep Leanne safe and happy, including giving in to her ways most of the time. However, she was firm on subjects like drugs and alcohol; they were strictly off-limits. Even as Leanne got into her teenage years and started to rebel against their mother, she would always listen to Jo, until that fateful night.

Jo had gotten a phone call from a grief-stricken Leanne that night, telling her that her boyfriend of five years had been cheating on her. She was almost hysterical; she had thought herself in love, and had thought that she would eventually get married to her boyfriend. Jo had spent a good two hours on the phone with her, trying to calm her down, and stayed on until her emotions had subsided. Leanne had thanked her for listening to her 'snotty-nosed blubbering', and reassured Jo that she was fine. Jo had believed her, and agreed to hang up to allow her some rest.

She would never forgive herself for allowing her to get off her phone. Leanne was a very stubborn person, and whenever she had a problem, she would keep it hidden deep inside her without telling anyone, and Jo knew that perfectly. However, she chose to believe that her sister was really fine, and that it would be better for her to get some rest. She had then gotten a phone call a few hours later, informing her that Leanne was in a car accident, and was hit by a drunk driver. Her life was literally hanging by a thread, and that Jo should go see her for the last time before her death. Jo immediately went back to Alabama, but she was too late. Her sister was gone.

Jo learnt that Leanne had decided to deal with her heartache by her usual methods – by taking her car and cruising along a highway. And yet, it was this activity on that particular night that had gotten her killed. Her mother came over to hug Jo, and told her that Leanne's organs had all been donated to people who were suffering from heart disease, a malfunctioning kidney, destroyed corneas. The people who could live lead a normal life at long last.

They had buried Leanne a few days later, and Jo went back to work, but she had never truly gotten over Leanne's death. True, they had buried her, but parts of Leanne were still around the world, working for a new person, keeping them healthy, and Jo longed to know if these people truly deserved a second chance at their life.

Today, she had finally seen a person that had gotten the most important organ of all – the heart of Leanne. She was grateful that he was a good man, and that he was truly worthy of Leanne's heart. When she heard his heart beat, it was symbolic, as if her sister had told her that it was finally time to let go of the past.

'Mom?' Ellie called, stepping into the living room, and squinting at her mother sitting on the couch in the dark. 'Are you okay?'

'Come here, honey,' Jo told her, stretching out her arms to Ellie, and wrapped her arms around her when she sat next to her. 'Promise me that if anything happens to me, donate my organs to someone in need.'

'Mom, is there something wrong?' Ellie asked in concern.

'Just promise me this,' Jo insisted.

'I promise, mom. But can you tell me if something is wrong?' Ellie asked.

'Nothing. I promise, Ellie,' Jo reassured her.

'Then why are you talking about such things right now?' Ellie asked.

'I saw the man who has your Aunt Leanne's heart today, and I realize that should something happen to me, at least other people in need would have a chance to live a proper life,' Jo explained.

'I still miss Aunt Leanne,' Ellie sighed.

'I know, and I still do,' Jo told her.

_A/N: I know this story is short, and probably crappy, but I still hope you like it. I am really tired after my exams, but I really wanted to write something, so I wrote this. I hope that this still lives up to your expectations._

_As usual, PLEASE REVIEW. Criticisms are much appreciated, but no flamers please._

_Zoe tabbycat_


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